Rabbi Michael Lerner Responds to David Griffin on 9/11

Tikkun is to be commended for publishing David Griffin’s The American Empire and 9/11 along with the following response by Rabbi Michael Lerner, which is an adaptation of his essay “What Next? Will It Make a Difference if We Succeed in Exposing 9/11 as a Fraud?” published in 9/11 and American Empire v.2: Christians, Jews and Muslims Speak Out.

As Muslim co-editor of 9/11 and American Empire v.2, I was deeply moved by Rabbi Lerner’s courage in submitting the final version of his essay. His first version had been unimpressive—late, short, and, to my mind at least, rather timorous. But I knew Rabbi Lerner to be a man of courage and intelligence, and I knew that 9/11 truth-seekers and Lerner’s Spiritual Progressive Network had much to learn from each other. So I asked the publisher to extend the manuscript-submission deadline, and emailed Rabbi Lerner suggesting that he re-write the essay a bit more boldly and at greater length.

I was not disappointed. Rabbi Lerner’s final, expanded and improved essay is magnificent. While some might quarrel with his 9/11 “agnosticism”—the evidence for inside job is beyond overwhelming—his understated argument that this evidence is compelling and needs to be taken seriously, and that it could conceivably lead to a profound social transformation, exhibits uncommon wisdom as well as courage. Indeed, his argument that the whole point of 9/11 activism is to change the world for the better, not to endlessly debate how many angels can dance on the head of a Boeing 757 nosecone allegedly entering the Pentagon, is one that the 9/11 truth movement needs to take to heart.

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